Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schooling on Marriage Formation in South Korea

Hyunjoon Park, University of Pennsylvania
Jaesung Choi, Sungkyunkwan University

Using data of high school types and marriage from a nationally representative sample of Korean men and women aged 25 to 35 in 2011, we assess causal effects of attending single-sex high schools (vs. coeducational) on transition to first marriage. Single-sex high schools have educated a considerable proportion of Korean population, suggesting it important to examine single-sex schooling effects on marriage formation. Separating boys and girls into different schools during high school years, single-sex schooling limits the opportunities for students to develop interpersonal relationships and communication skills with students of the opposite gender and to meet their potential spouses in school. However, our discrete-time hazard models show no significant difference in the risk of first marriage between those who graduated from single-sex and coeducational high schools for both men and women. The random assignment of students into single-sex schools in Korean education allows casual inferences for single-sex schooling effects.